You have to hand it to Saves The Day. On recent albums they’ve switched their sound around and kept it sounding fresh; from the pop-punk sound of the first two records to the more laid back ‘Stay What You Are’. Their ability to mix it up, yet still sound like Saves The Day thanks to Chris Conley’s distinctive vocal delivery, has kept things interesting and allowed the band to still sound relevant years after they started.
‘Under The Boards’ is no different when compared to STD’s switch in sounds between albums. While the last album was aggressive and more akin to their earlier work, this new album, out on Vagrant, is much slower in places, maybe not quite as laidback as ‘SWYA’, but certainly less obvious. And boy it’s a grower. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t fully sure on first listen, but the more I paid attention, the more I ‘got’ the album.
The switch in sound isn’t so unexpected bearing in mind their history, but I have to be honest and admit the Smashing Pumpkins/Muse-esque opening track. Even Conley’s vocals sound a little tainted by messrs Corgan and Bellamy. It proves to be a red herring though, as the band adopt a more familiar tone on the rest of the album. Primarily ‘Under The Boards’ references a ‘Stay What You Are’-era sound, veering off in a few places with either quicker, more urgent tunes or slower, brooding efforts. ‘Radio’ and ‘Can’t Stay The Same’ are very good tracks, while the quicker ‘Getaway’ and ‘Because You Are No Other’ add some much needed urgency two-thirds of the way in.
It’s not all good mind – the stripped down ‘Stay’ sounds a little of place in the flow of the album, while ‘When I’m Not There’ never really seems to get going. ‘Under The Boards’ is an interesting album because it clearly reflects the mood of the band, rather than writing an album of similar sounding songs. While I didn’t enjoy this that much on first listen, three weeks in and I enjoy it a lot more; always the sign of a good record. As part of a trilogy it will be interesting to see how the band develop their sound for the next part, but I have a feeling there’s enough in ‘Under The Boards’ to keep fans happy for a good while.